“On a sliding scale of sexuality I'd
place myself around 80-20, but I definitely prefer men to women,”
the 51-year-old Stipe
told UK daily The Guardian. “I had sex with, and
enjoyed sex with, women until I met someone that I fell in love with,
and who is now my boyfriend [NYC-based photographer
Thomas Dozol].”

But Stipe would prefer you don't call
him bisexual: “I hate and refuse to apply the term bisexual to
myself. It doesn't seem appropriate. It feels like just another
label.”

He added that growing up he wasn't
“troubled” or “confused” by his sexuality.

“But I felt there just wasn't a place
for me,” Stipe said. “For a time I was conflicted by how I was
represented, and then AIDS came, and that's an era that has still to
be spoken about in depth by people of my age. It was a very difficult
time to be honest and frank about one's sexuality. And a very scary
time for people like myself, who were not able to be tested
anonymously without some concern. I mean, under Reagan, lest we
forget, there was a time when they were talking about internment
camps for people who were HIV positive. To this day I can't give
blood to the Red Cross because I have sex with a man.”